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Global Korea Scholarship (GKS): what it covers, how long it lasts and who can apply
Numbers checked against the official source on 2026-10-19
The Global Korea Scholarship (GKS) is the Korean government's invitation scholarship for international students. The official pages list these benefits: airfare, Korean-language training fees, tuition and an academic allowance. The programme runs 1 year of Korean-language training plus 2 to 3 years for an associate degree, 4 to 6 for a bachelor's, 2 for a master's or 3 for a doctorate. The web pages do not print the monthly allowance amount; that figure sits in the official application-guideline PDF.
Sources: the Study in Korea scholarship page and notice board (run by the National Institute for International Education, NIIED) and the NIIED GKS page. The 2027 undergraduate guideline notice is dated 2026-09-09. Read on 2026-10-19. The Study in Korea page is in Korean (its English view is machine translation), so the wording below is our own reading of the Korean text.
What the scholarship covers
| Item | What the official page says |
|---|---|
| Benefits (Study in Korea) | Airfare, Korean-language training fee, tuition, academic allowance, "etc." |
| Benefits (NIIED) | Entry airfare, return airfare, Korean-language training fee, tuition, academic allowance |
| Monthly allowance amount | Not stated on these HTML pages; see the guideline PDF attached to the notice |
| Settlement allowance | Not stated on these HTML pages |
| Course | Korean-language training, then the degree programme |
| Duration | Korean language 1 year; associate degree 2 to 3 years; bachelor's 4 to 6 years; master's 2 years; doctorate 3 years |
| Places, undergraduate | About 280 (summary); 286 (selection table total) |
| Places, graduate | About 1,600 (summary); 2,000 (selection table total) |
The Study in Korea page disagrees with itself on places: the programme summary says about 280 undergraduate and about 1,600 graduate, while the selection tables further down total 286 and 2,000. We show both; the guideline for each year decides.
For contrast, the same page lists a separate GKS exchange-student programme (one 4-month semester) with an academic allowance of 630,000 won a month (varying with the days of stay and the end of term) and return airfare at the actual ticket price within the airfare rule. That is not the degree-programme allowance.
Eligibility checklist
- Nationality. You and both parents must not hold Korean nationality; a dual national who holds Korean nationality is not accepted as a foreigner.
- Age. Undergraduate: under 25 on 1 March of the selection year. Graduate: under 40 on 1 September of the selection year.
- Education. Undergraduate: high-school graduate (for a bachelor's, high-school or associate-degree graduate) or expected graduate. Graduate: bachelor's or master's graduate or expected graduate.
- Grades. A grade average of at least 80% over all years of the last school. For undergraduate applications the page also lists alternatives: 80% converted score, top 20% rank, or the reference CGPA.
- Health. Healthy enough in body and mind for long study in Korea.
- Not in Korea's university system. Anyone enrolled in, or a graduate of, a university or graduate school in Korea cannot apply.
How it works
- Notice. NIIED announces the call: September for undergraduate, February for graduate.
- Apply. Embassy track: online through Study in Korea. University track: directly to the university. A person can apply through only one embassy or one university.
- Screening. Embassy or university first, then the NIIED committee; for the embassy track the university does a third round.
- Result. Undergraduate in December; graduate in June.
Contact given on the page: gksniied@korea.kr.
Where the pages differ
| Item | Study in Korea page | NIIED page |
|---|---|---|
| Graduate age | Under 40 on 1 September of the selection year | Under 40 on 1 September, or under 45 for a sitting professor from an ODA-recipient country |
| Graduate duration | Master's 2 years, doctorate 3 years | Language training 1 year + master's 2 years; language training 1 year + doctorate 3 years |
| Undergraduate age | Under 25 on 1 March of the selection year | Under 25 on 1 March of the invitation year |
The monthly allowance, settlement allowance and medical-insurance details are in the official guideline PDFs, not on this page. Read the current guideline (listed on the notice board) before you plan money around the scholarship. Related: TOPIK fees and test dates and part-time work for students. This page is a summary; confirm with NIIED.
Checked 2026-10-19.
Official sources
- Study in Korea (NIIED) — Scholarship: GKS — benefit list, duration, eligibility, selection steps, exchange allowance; Korean text (read on 2026-10-19) (checked 2026-10-19)
- NIIED — GKS programme: selection of government-invited international students — benefit list, duration, eligibility; no revision date printed (read on 2026-10-19) (checked 2026-10-19)
- Study in Korea — scholarship notice: 2027 GKS undergraduate guidelines — notice dated 2026-09-09; guideline PDFs attached, not downloaded (checked 2026-10-19)
Prices change. If an official page shows a different number from this page, the official page wins — and please tell us so we can fix it.